BBQ pork belly nigiri

I have been wanting to focus on creating some neo-nigiri sushi for quite sometime because I have been bored with the typical tuna-yellowtail-salmon nigiri. I felt that it was appropriate to make my first neo-sushi inspired by a Korean dish I am particularly fond of called, (samgyeopsal; 쌈겹살) or pork belly. Whenever I am out at a Korean BBQ restaurant I will always devour tons of this meat, but I cannot eat it without my (soju; 소주) and beer (maekju; 맥주). Washing this delicious meat down with these two drinks is a must! ㅋㅋㅋ

The pork belly is brushed with (ssamjang; 쌈장), topped with sautéed enoki mushrooms, and garlic cloves. I used jasmine rice along with a Korean multi-grain mixture called, (jak gok bap;작곡밥) that contains: barely, millet, sweet brown rice, brown rice, job's tear, red bean, black bean, peeled mung bean, black sweet rice, corn, and green tea! When the rice is cooked, it transforms into a lovely purple. I like preparing rice this way because it tastes way better than that boring plain white rice stuff and it's a lot healthier. It's funny how I prefer white bread over wheat, but multi-grain rice over white. I suppose the fatty BBQ pork makes up for the unhealthy aspect though.

I was very happy with the results, but I think it could use some tweaking to better balance it all out. I think next time I'll accompany the pork belly with lettuce (sangchu; 상추), perilla leaves (kkaennip; 깻잎), some sliced raw onions, green onions, and (kimchi; 김치) or aged kimchi (mugeunji; 묵은지). The garlic, onions, and kimchi can be either grilled or consumed raw. I think combining the raw and cooked would be interesting. I tried king mushrooms and enoki mushrooms and I think the enoki worked the best. They didn't overpower the texture of the pork and weren't meaty unlike the king mushroom. Perhaps Shiitake mushrooms or oyster mushrooms would work with this as well. Maybe instead of using nori seaweed to tie the pieces together, using the green onions would be a better alternative? It would be a nice addition for some color. I also think I will try braising or slow roasting the pork rather than grilling it. I want that tender texture that melts in your mouth!

Nonetheless, the taste was awesome and a good effort for my first neo-nigiri. I don't know if I can call this sushi since it's not mixed with the sweet rice vinegar that is used, but I'll continue with the word: neo-nigiri! The nigiri playground is just as vast and creative as the sushi rolls concept. Sushi restaurants have tons of rolls that are so fusioned up, that they just become these giant rolls of rice with a lot of cream cheese, tempura fried, and drown in sauces. I think some of those rolls are good and quite creative with being that fusion type, but wouldn't it be nice to eat sushi that's not like that?

I feel the simpler the better in a lot of ways, but I can get carried away as well. It's easy to get rolled up with the trends of fusion sushi and Kansas City seems to follow that very well. I haven't been impressed with what is available here and wish there was a greater collective amongst sushi chefs here, where ideas can be tossed around and new food can be created or inspired by one another.

Innovation will come....